Page 57 of One Lovely Lie

“Well, you know they’re not your biggest fans, but they’ll be supportive,” he says as he thinks it over. “What do you think your parents will say?”

I snort. “My mom will have her morning mimosa so she won’t say much. My dad might be happy with the positive influence in my life. He’s always saying I should be more like you.” He grows silent at the mention of my father and I can sense something brewing in that blond-haired head. “Baby?”

He chews on his bottom lip as he sits up. “Can we be serious for a minute?”

Despite my heart beating double-time at his worried expression, I nod. “Yeah.”

“If your dad makes you go to Germany, will you?”

I physically let out a sigh of relief for the scare he put me through, but I don’t have a good answer for him. “I don’t know. The money…”

I get my money if I go to Germany, that’s what my father has made abundantly clear. It’s the money that was put aside for me since I was born. It’s the money that I’ve earned through their treatment of me. I know money doesn’t mean everything, and I know that I’m more fortunate than most, but a little over a million dollars is painful to give up.

And if I don’t go to Germany, that’s it. I won’t just lose my money, I’ll lose them. I’ll be disowned, and while I detest my parents, this is something I can’t come back from. The idea of being truly on my own, of not being a Black, is terrifying.

Daniel, as usual, gets it. He gets that I’m not some evil, money-hungry, spoiled, trust-fund kid. He gets that there’s more to this than just money. He gets everything.

“I know.”

I rub my hand across my jaw as a memory resurfaces. “I don’t even want to go into the family business. I want—”

I pause. No, it’s too stupid to say out loud.

“What?” Daniel presses, tugging at my arm. “What do you want?”

“I think I want to work with kids,” I say honestly. “It would be nice to use my trust fund and invest it in a youth center for at-risk teens.”

It’s a dream I had once a long time ago. It was after a particularly bad verbal lashing from my father for not behaving during a dinner with a senator. I was ten at the time. I imagined running away. I thought about how much better life would be if I had parents that actually loved me, that supported me like Daniel’s parents. I wondered a lot about where I would go because, at the end of the day, I had nowhere to run.

That very night, I found out what a youth center was. I saw that they had one in almost every major city. I learned that they were places where kids in bad situations could escape to. They would feed you, clothe you, help you find work, and take care of you. I had highly considered leaving that very night but—

Then Daniel called and all was right again. I knew I couldn’t leave him.

Fuck, seriously, how did I not realize I was in love with him sooner?

“That’s amazing, Mag,” Daniel praises, a bright smile lighting up his face. “You could do so much good.”

I shrug because I don’t know how viable the dream is. “I think I want to give them the attention and the care my parents kept from me. Sitting in a boardroom all day with a bunch of old white men doesn’t sound fulfilling.” I wince. “Sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize,” he laughs. “We just want different things.”

That thought doesn’t sit well with me, so I make a point to correct that thinking.

“But we don’t, not really. We both want to be happy.” I link our hands together and bring them to my lips. “Happy together.”

“Forever and ever.” He nods with this goofy little smile and nuzzles his nose against mine.

I kiss him slowly, deeply, hungrily. “Cradle to grave, my tree.”

Chapter 19

Magnus

I’ve never felt prouder than I do now, walking hand in hand with Daniel as we make our way to the event room. We pass by several of our classmates, some of whom I have had…um…relationswith. All of them gawk at us as we walk, I think mainly because they never thought they’d see the day when I’d willingly be tied down.

But now that I have Daniel, he’s not fucking going anywhere.

We stop when we see Avery in the courtyard. He’s standing by the entrance of the school, bouncing on his heels, looking around frantically with a smile on his face.

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